Hispanic Heritage

by Sister Jacinta Millán, CSC

According to Webster’s unabridged dictionary, the word “adventure,” means “an exciting and dangerous undertaking.”  The definition of the verb is “to be bold about; to dare, to take a risk.”  And as I reflected on my life in Holy Cross during my Golden Jubilee year 2000, I realized that an adventure with a loving God of surprises characterized these many years.

My parents, José and Josefa Millán, immigrated to Ventura, California, when they left Mexico.  I had the good fortune, together with my four siblings, of being reared in a deeply religious atmosphere.  Typical of many Mexican families, we had our own home altar and popular religious expressions.  Our Lady of Guadalupe was not only part of our family but was also of “nuestra raza” (our race).  Before they died, my parents gave a special blessing to each of their children.

Being reared in a bicultural, bilingual environment for me had its positive as well as negative aspects, especially when the cultures seemed to clash.  My mother instilled in us an appreciation of the gift of our faith and of our personal dignity as children of God regardless of the color of skin.  My father, in particular, shared the beauty and richness of our Mexican cultural heritage.  We spoke Spanish at home and learned English at school as so many Latino children continue to do today.  In my years of ministry I have come to realize the gift this has been!

The Great Depression coincided with my early childhood.  The economic struggles served to strengthen family unity, including our extended family, and to express generous and selfless love.  One of my early childhood experiences was life in a migrant camp during the walnut picking season.  This personally negative experience brought me in touch with inequalities related to the migrant workers — almost all of whom were of Mexican heritage — caught in the farmworkers’ stream.  In the mid-1960s and 1970s, as a result, I became quite involved in the United Farmworker Movement led by César Chávez.

Sister Jacinta ministers in the Cancer Screening Clinic as a part of the Parish Health Program of Holy Cross Ministries in Salt Lake City, Utah, 2000.

Now, what led me to become involved in the family of Holy Cross adventure?  The Holy Cross sisters who taught at our Mission San Buenaventura parish school had a strong impact, not only on our family, but also on the entire community of Ventura.  The nurturing love of the sisters played a vital role in my personal life.  There was a selflessness, a humanness, a family spirit, and a balance of humor in their approach to their students and to their ministry in general.  I had grown to cherish the friendship of some of these sisters.

So, at age 18, I embarked on this new adventure.  However, the Midwest — South Bend, Indiana, — provided a cultural shock to someone who had never ventured out of California!  Yes, it was a shock to leave family, friends, the California beach and mountains, our Old Mission and my Mexican food!  (Times have changed.)  Then there was the adjustment to the snow, the cold, and days on end minus the sun.  But the adventure had begun!

Parishioners discuss issues in a chapel council meeting at Santa Cruz Chapel in Mexico, 1999.

Shortly after my arrival at Saint Mary’s in 1947, we bade farewell to our sisters who were sent to begin a mission in Brazil. “I would like to join them,” I kept repeating to myself.  Consequently, my first 10 years in inner city elementary schools in California for me were preparatory stages, so I thought, for the missionary journey to which I felt God was calling me.

The God of surprises had a big one in store for me when, at age 30, I was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph glands.  And my name was crossed off the missionary list!  Fifteen years later, due to advances in medicine, etc., I was told that the cause of the illness had been a parasite and not cancer.  Through it all, I had felt the healing, loving touch of a caring, supportive community and family.

I was given an opportunity to study at Stanford University where I earned a graduate degree.  These summer experiences offered me exposure to a pluralistic and global environment.

There are other experiences/adventures that stand out in my life process.  The first was a Spanish-speaking Cursillo in 1966 which brought me in touch once again with the simple, deep Hispanic spirituality.  Others include a summer of missionary outreach in a remote village in Guatemala in 1967, a multicultural experience with our sisters in Brazil in 1986, a month in Chiapas, Mexico, in 1993, and some 30-day retreats that have provided the time to reflect and to pray.  The martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the four U.S. missionaries in 1980 plus the genocide of peasants in Guatemala and other Latin American countries have profoundly affected my life and spirituality as a Sister of the Holy Cross consecrated to our compassionate Mother of Sorrows.

Sister Jacinta serves at a First Communion at San Matías Chapel in Mexico, 1998.

So, the ministry adventure changed course to the home mission endeavors and to the call for cultural bridge-building.  The Chicano movement was at its peak in the Bay Area where I was sent in 1965 and where I remained for 18 years.  The Civil Rights Movement had brought to the fore the evils of racism with all its implications.  I had to come to grips with the realization that I was not “Mexican-Mexican” but a combination of Mexican and American.  A counselor priest and the mini-pastoral program at the Mexican American Cultural Center in San Antonio helped me through the painful process of integrating spirituality, cultural heritage and ministry with a positive self-identity.

In the mid-’70s a team consisting of a priest, three of us sisters from different communities and a lay woman began Centro Pastoral in San Jose, California, which later evolved into the Diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry.  My Holy Cross community generously supported me during our struggling years.

It was also at this time that a grassroots team of Holy Cross priests, brothers and sisters formed a support/network group for those involved in ministry with Hispanics.  The Hispanic Ministries Committee, which is still active, has been influential in raising awareness within our Holy Cross family regarding the Hispanic/Latino presence.  I have been fortunate to have been involved in these collaborative efforts in the extended family of Holy Cross both in the United States and Mexico.

Yes, in addition to the 24 years of teaching in the elementary and secondary schools, the adventurous journey has led me to traverse the high desert highways of a rural parish in central Utah for five and a half years, to serve for four years on the formation faculty of Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, and to experience five and a half years in a Holy Cross parish of Cuidad Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.  And the adventure continues as I serve in the Parish Health program of Holy Cross Ministries based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

As I reflect on this life of adventure with God as a woman religious, I am filled with a sense of wonder and deep gratitude for the Lord’s precious gift of a vocation in the family of Holy Cross.